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Sunday, January 11, 2009

Grrrrr... skype!

Have you met my archnemisis?

Skype this is the bloggy world, Bloggy world, this is skype otherwise known as evil incarnate.

So skype is only evil in my mind today. Normally it I consider it to be the next best invention next to the chocolate bar, and I LOOVVVEE chocolate so that is saying a lot. I realized that some of you may not know what skype is... "Take a deep breath" is their motto. I tried that today, but deep breathing only added fuel to the fiery flames spiraling out of my flared nostrils. Using the internet, skype allows long distance calls for dirt cheap. Honestly, I should feel entirely blessed that I can speak to Kyle at all while I am in a foreign country for anything less than $100 an hour. I should be down on my knees, kissing skype's cyber feet and thanking them for allowing the possibility that I may speak with not only Kyle but also my family members whom I miss dearly. And most days, I am extremely grateful for this wondrous technology. However, today, I am on the far side of the spectrum from grateful, one might even call me "a fire breath dragon, pulsating with a furious firery vendetta" I have spoken with Kyle this weekend 3 times but out of those three conversations only one was successful and it was for a total of 3 solid minutes. He is helping his parents out with a weekend work thing, and as his schedule is very constricted he has limited time to speak with me. When I called him yesterday morning, he stepped out long enough for us to have our uninterrupted, 3 minute conversation. However, the next time I was able to call our conversation went something like this.Kyle: Honey are you there?Vanessa: I am here?K: Are you there?V: I'm here, I'm here, I'm hereK: Hi sweetheart, how was your day?V: Hi darling, how was your day? (lines overlapping because said at the same time)K: What?V: Your day, how was it?K: How was your day? (obviously he didn't hear my question)V: I went shopping in Seoul todayK: What?V: I went shopping in Seoul today.K: one more time sweetheartV: I went shopping in Seoul today, I went shopping in Seoul today, I went shoppig in Seoul today.K: You went shopping? Did you buy anything?V: It was pretty unsuccessful, I was looking for some new cute boots, but I didn't find the perfect ones.K: I couldn't hear you.V: Yes I bought a shirt.K: I think you said "Yes, you bought a purse?And on and on like this until Kyle was finished with his ten minute break. Typically it took 20 seconds for one sentence to be accurately understood. This ten minute conversation where we understood nothing of what the other said , and rather than feeling satisfied and in love at the end of the conversation, acidic boiling in my veins was the result. As most of you know, Kyle's patience tether is significantly longer than mine, and we can assume that he has not metaphorized into a firing breathing dragon like his wife. But even if he has, I can't ask him since that is way too long of a question for him to understand. Sometimes it feels like I am talking to an ESL student, constantly repeating my sentences and key words to help them understand. But I need my phone time with Kyle as a moment to wind down, to feel wrapped in loves embrace but instead of a relaxing moment, it becomes a stress-filled one where I grab onto anything that might have a neck I can strangle. When these types of conversations occur, I find myself yelling into the phone (when volume is obviously not the problem) and getting irritated with Kyle, when it is obviously not his fault.

Conversations like these are typical but not quite to this extreme. And honestly it probably isn't even skype's fault, it is the internet's fault for being craptacular on certain days and at certain hours. But what makes this situation even more difficult, is that all but one 3 minute conversation has been as such this weekend and I am especially lonesome for my hubby right now as you can see by the latest post.

The internet like my frustration, has it's good moments and it's bad. I am sure later, it will be behaving better, because if it doesn't, I am not sure what ugly creature I might transform into next. And as for Skype, I am sorry I called you my archnemisis. You are my friend, but would you have a chat with your friend the internet for me? Ask him to play nice please. I would really appreciate a conversation with my hubby if you don't mind. Thanks!

9 comments:

That is SO funny...i mean it's not, I meant more ironic. I JUST got off the phone with ICS because I give them money so Sidnei is able to call me. Except he still CANT. And it's their fault. I had to turn into a fire breathing dragon myself and i was pretty ugly. But this has been going on for 2 weeks!! Ughhhh...

Im sorry that the conversation wasn't working right. Things like that always seem to happen at the WORST times! (but I have to admit, I am glad I am not the only one who gets irritated with their hubby even though it's really just displaced irritation...I always feel like the WORST wife when I do that...of course it generally just rolls right off of him, and I gather its the same with kyle) My goodness girl, I hope Skype gets its act together and you can talk with them soon! And I am SO going to remember skype so that Sidnei can call his family in Brazil or if we go to Brazil we can call here! Assuming we have some kind of internet that is!!

Hope it works next time you try to call!! Sending good things your way!!

hey there!we've had some type of virus problems or something, because a couple of blogs that we were reading would open up a LOT of windows all at once so i took them off of our list. hopefully we can figure out the problem though so it can all get back on track. :) hope you're doing well!! and i'm sorry about the nastiness that is being international, we for sure know how stinky it can be!!

I'm sorry you're having so much trouble! And I can't imagine how much you are missing your hubby right now. Just keep your eye on the light at the end of the tunnel. I promise it will only keep getting bigger and brighter! You are both amazing and WILL get through this! We miss you tons!

Aw! I hope it all gets worked out soon. Are there any other programs you can use? Gmail has video chat now--you just have to install something small on your computer. It'll be a great day when you are together again. Still crossing my fingers for you!

Yikes! That's a real pain and so frustrating! Hope all that is resolved quickly for you. God bless!Thanks for visiting my Welcome to Alberta post!! All that snow and the cold is something we just live with. This too shall pass!

That's got to be just as annoying as the delay and echo in phone conversations I've had over long distances. It's too hard to concentrate on what the other person is saying when I'm hearing myself echoed back to me. Blah!

Have you tried using the chat while you're skyping? Not as neat as hearing a perfectly good voice, but it may help in the frustration factor. I'm like you, I'd have thrown my computer out the window by now!

I am a Skype user and can no longer "take a deep breath"....I was experiencing technical difficulties too. Like you, I love Skype and am very thankful for the cost...just don't mess with my gab time darn it. :D

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Welcome

Thank you for visiting our blog. Originally, this blog started as a template for my (Vanessa) thoughts. Over time, it has evolved to be a travel memoir and a general journal for our( my husband and my) life together. Kyle and I have been married for nearly 4 years now, but have been together, forever, since December 2000. We are so lucky to have found true love, and thank God everyday for our many blessings. We are from Texas but have been transported across the world to teach English in Korea for an indefinite amount of time. The culture of Korea is interesting and different and always provides great writing material. If you would like to follow us on this wild and crazy ride, please subscribe above. Once again thank you, and we would love to hear from you!

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Red black or orange,

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The IMPOSSIBLES,

the WON'Ts

Listen to the NEVER HAVEs

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ANYTHING can be."

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“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.” (Pablo Neruda)

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